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Not to take away from Estie's post, but I have a hot DVR waiting for me-seems I missed a few other shows that I didn't know about before that came on about the same time, so I'm going to be off to see those shortly.

Just wanted to chime in my 2 cents in here this morning. I'm REALLY angry, once again, that these little, and BIG, dogs were exposed, and thrown in to such hideous 'contests'. Who the heck decides what determines a dog's loyalty, confidence in his/her master? Stupidity is NOT something that comes to MY mind! I'm sorry, but I just couldn't nor WOULD I allow my dog to sit within inches of a 90 TON elephant! NOR would I put him/her in a harness and expect him/her to jump off a 10+ foot building just to show how loyal he is to me.

Then, look what happened to Galaxy. I was so upset! I actually got sick to my stomach and cried when I saw her limping and lethargic like that!!! I hope those producers and judges pay BIG time for putting that dog in that position and allowing her to be hurt. HOG WASH is all I'm going to say!! I'm sure PETA will be chiming in shortly, if this show doesn't get its act together!

I'm not sure what the prize is (can't remember off hand), but no amount of money is worth having your precious companion hurt in any way-physically or mentally. I don't want to sound like a tree-hugging fanatic here, but this whole episode really has me royaly ticked!!

Galaxy-hope you are all better, with nothing more than a slight tissue injury, which should have never happened in the first place!!! JD-I hope you sue the pants off these idiots who put your dog in this position!!

Bill-we'll miss you, but Star will always be a STAR!!Sorry-I just needed to vent. Maybe others will disagree, and that's ok. This whole thing just really hit me the WRONG way-can you tell???

ETA: just changed a few words around-I type without thinking when I'm so angry....

A sign of intelligence for a dog is that they would stay away from an elephant, unless they are trained circus dogs or have some special reason for associating with them.

I can see training as being so strict that at the order of their owner they wouldn't get out of the way of an elephant, or a train, or a speeding automobile. But personally, I'd rather they get their little hind quarters out of the way. Andrew, brave heart that he may be, was the dumbest dog.

One clue to the show's cluelessness I picked up on (finally, I feel kinda idiotic for not having noticed this earlier) are the qualifications of the judges.

One is a publisher of two dog magazines. Judging articles, pictures, layout, filler material, does not make one a particularly qualified judge of dog training or showing or whatever. Judging dogs does. Maybe he has a appropriate background, but it's hard to see evidence of it.

One other (English) is a renowned celebrity dog trainer. OK, celebrity dog training (to me) indicates that she teaches the dog obedience. Heel, walkies, come, sit lie, stay. And don't bite the personal assistant. A celebrity dog trainer would not be a good dog judge, IMO. It would make one a dog snob, which this one appears to be.

And the third is a animal rights and rescue activist? Very commendable. And very unqualified.

There are so many legitimate dog trainers, of all kinds, and quite a number of experienced judges, again, of all kinds, that to use these atrocious people as judges is hard to understand. I know it's a RTVW type show, and as such the parameters are different. Still, it could be done in a more intelligent way, IMO.

The same people who devise these challenges are responsible for choosing the judges.

Andrew did impress me though. I suspect he is myopic. I was surprised in the African bush by a curious and wild elephant about 6 fee from me, and I was beyond wetting myself. I was lookng him in his eye, and he was looking at me, and I was thinking, "OK, this is a wild multi-ton animal, Is he curious or is he mad? Did I piss him off? Why won't my legs work?"

Did they show Galaxy getting hurt? Was he hurt in one of the challenges (the flying challenge, I guess)? I was thinking it was a growth or something, or age related degeneration. It's tough to see a dog limp like that.

Kingfish, you hit it on the head. Andrew has to be one of the dumbest dogs ever. Wow, I can't believe he just sat there like that. Amazing. I'm not that impressed with him, but seemingly, many are.

As to your comment, "One other (English) is a renowned celebrity dog trainer. OK, celebrity dog training (to me) indicates that she teaches the dog obedience. Heel, walkies, come, sit lie, stay. And don't bite the personal assistant. A celebrity dog trainer would not be a good dog judge, IMO. It would make one a dog snob, which this one appears to be."

Victoria IS the celebrity, it's not that she trains celebritys' dogs. She has her own show over in the U.K. that is also broadcasted here, I think on Animal Planet. While I'm no fan of hers, especially after seeing THIS show, she does some pretty amazing things with unruly dogs (mostly by retraining their owners!)

I couldn't tell from the editing when Galaxy got hurt. He (she? not sure of the gender) seemed OK from what I remember right after the flight, and all we know is Galaxy was hurting before the judging. I just don't know the time frame between the two events.

Any dog could get hurt like that just about any day, so I don't know if had to be the challenge or not. I hope the clarify since it sounds like Galaxy is going to the vet right after the judging.

I remember my bison encounter and that was bad enough with big beasts right next to me (I couldn't move to the right as there was a huge hot spring of boiling water and the couldn't go much to the left as there was an embankment so I could have petted them had I been crazy enough to touch one, especially since it was moms and calves). We knew enough that standing still was the best bet and the bison herd made the choice to walk by us. I think you are much safer (not that it feels that way) when the animals choose to come to you compared to a lot of the stupid flying human tricks you see on those when animal attack videos where usually the human is approaching the animal. However I agree that a lot of the time even if they approach you don't know that you might be standing in a very wrong place at the time.

Still I'm not really sure how much of staying there has to do with trusting or obeying the owner and how much has to do with a total lack of being able to sense impending doom.

It must be so hard not knowing what the judges are going to think.last week Bill is criticized for making Star work too long in the maze with the puppies.This week he chooses not to stress Star on the steep ramp or any longer trying to get her to jump, and they criticize that.

I watched last night for the first time and got hooked right away. I loved it! I wished that I had started watching from the beginning.

From skimming previous threads, it seems that most people don't like the challenges for the dogs. I actually thought that the elephant charging challenge was good. IMO, one of the most important things you can teach your dog is sit-stay to keep them out of trouble. I walk my dog off leash in a big park. When she was a puppy she went running up to a horse. The rider responded, "Get your dog away from her. She's not used to dogs and she'll kick her brains out." Lovely sentiment, but he conveyed the urgency for me to curb my dog. Believe me I've tried to teach my dog to stay when there are other animals around, and she won't do it. The time she chased a coyote really had my heart in my stomach! It's also a good command for when there are scared or overly exuberant children around. So I was really impressed that Presley and Andrew could sit as long as they did.

The other challenge was meh. The agility part was good. The zip line was bizarre. I have one friend whose dog loves to jump off cliffs into the water, but that seems like a rare trait in a dog.

I pegged Galaxy as the winner and I expect that his limp is misdirection. But I loved Presley the most last night; he reminded me of my dog!

They didn't show Galaxy at the time of injury. It wasn't noticed until they were all in the house, and JD called her to come to him, and saw that she was limping. It just broke my heart, seeing JD AND Galaxy!! The concern and love he has for that dog speaks mountains!!

But anyway, back to what I was going to say...we, the viewers, were given the IMPRESSION that Galaxy may have injured her leg whilst hitting the ground from that stupid jump off the scaffold. At least, that was MY first impression. Then, I thought, maybe the halter was a bit too tight? Or they practiced too long and she may have sprained it during that time? Or during the time JD was showing off some of her tricks to Travis?

In any case, I was left just reeling with anger and sadness-I mean, this is STUPID, right? But I felt so bad for that dog, and JD! I honestly don't cry at these shows, but this one had me!! Sorry...(disclaimer: I do not claim that my dog is a celebrity, nor would I claim that he would go into a bunch of weeds to 'protect' a group of puppies, when, in actuality, he is just trying to run like the wind from a group of yelping canines!!!).

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